Hillbilly White Trash? I’m Oxford educated.

I grew up poor in a rural West Virginia. My race, the way I talk and where I’m from immediately make people assume I’m illiterate, uneducated, and deeply racist without ever actually talking to me. The irony… I get so angry at how common and acceptable it is to use Hee-Haw accents as short-hand for stupidity and to call people with ignorant and racist attitudes “hillbillies” and other names meant to illustrate that they’re backward and uneducated. I’m proud of my heritage and the sacrifices my “poor white trash” family and I made to get me to where I’ve been and where I am now.

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